Distributed by:

Universe

Region 3 DVD

Language:

Cantonese/Japanese, English and Italian

Subtitle: English, Chinese

Runtime: 125 minutes

Genre: (Art Film/ Drama/ Romance)

 

 

 

 

Translated as "Between Calm and Passion," Calmi Cuori Appassionati tells the story of Junsei (Yutaka Takenouchi), an art restorer working in Florence, and the love of his life Aoi (Kelly Chen). Though they both have broken up for quite some time, they still remember the promise they made to each other ten years ago.

I was not that impressed with the storyline but I did enjoy this movie. The movie was set in Florence with additional scenes set in Milan and Japan. One thing that I will comment is that the cinematography was beautiful!! Anyone who watches this film will want to visit Florence.

This was Isamu Nakae's first film that he has directed. His previous works were Japanese televison series "Platonic Sex" and "A.D 2000=Don't Shoot Her." I've never seen either shows before and cannot comment on either of them. The title of the television shows though, sounds quite interesting and might be worth checking out.

Calmi stars pop sensation Kelly Chen and Japanese TV star Yutaka Takenouchi. I'm a big fan of Kelly Chen. I've bought nearly most of her CDs and I watched nearly all her movies. However in all those times, I was never really that impressed with her acting abilities. I still don't think that she's a good actress, but she has improved alot. And this film shows it!

Kelly went to primary school in Hong Kong, to high school in Japan, and to college in New York. She speaks Chinese (Mandarin and Cantonese), Japanese and English. I can't tell how perfect her Japanese is, but she speaks English very fluently. Her co-star Takenouchi was no slouch in the language department either. He speaks Japanese, English, and Italian pretty well.

Too long have I seen movies set in foreign countries where the actors all speak ENGLISH! A prime example is "Enemy of the Gates" which stars Jude Law, Joseph Fiennes, and Rachel Weisz. It's funny. For a band of Russian resistance group, they sure look awfully English to me. At least in Calmi Cuori Appassionati, they cast real Italian people for the roles and the non-native speakers (like Kelly and Yutaka) had to learn to speak Italian.

I'm not going to say much about the storyline. Doing so would simply ruin the whole movie. I will only say this: the movie has changed my way of thinking about relationships and the whole trust issue. Calmi Cuori Appassionati is a love story that might not appeal to everyone. It's not a romantic comedy that would leave you feeling happy and giddy all over. Nor is it a tear-jerker film that will leave you crying. It's an art-film that has a wonderful cast of characters with real-life situations. It pulls you into the story, leaving you guessing what will happen in the end. I admit, The first 30 minutes were slow and confusing but it all makes sense at the end. I enjoyed it.

 

Overall Score: B